State Takes Aim At Sex Trafficking Of Minors

Nearly 200 reports made to DCF since 2008

The state's child-protection agency has fielded nearly 200 calls on the sex trafficking of minors since 2008, and police, prosecutors, and social workers are now working on a more unified response to an increasingly insidious practice.

The majority of the reports to the state Department of Children and Families involve girls aged 13 to 17. The victims include more than a dozen young boys.

On the heels of new state laws that have toughened penalties against pimps and expanded the definition of sex trafficking, child-protection, law-enforcement, health and school officials have joined forces for the state's first major conference on the sex trafficking of minors. It's set for Wednesday at the Hartford Convention Center.

Last summer, five teenage girls who were working as prostitutes were rescued and one pimp was arrested in Connecticut during an FBI raid that hit 76 cities and towns nationwide. The Connecticut girls were among more than 100 sexually exploited minors rescued in the crackdown over one July weekend.

Three of the girls, aged 15 to 17, were runaways from foster homes or group homes they'd been placed in by DCF – a common occurrence, DCF officials said.

During that crackdown, local police and the FBI had gone to hotels in West Hartford, Berlin, Norwich, Milford and New Haven, where they believed the minors were working as prostitutes.

Earlier this month, Windsor Locks police officers and FBI agents rescued a 16-year-old girl who was being exploited by an area prostitution ring.

The girl was removed from a Motel 6 in Windsor Locks. She received medical attention and was returned to her home out of state, police said.

The prevailing perceptions of sex trafficking might be that it has to look like the Southeast Asian sex trade, or that it necessarily entails smuggling humans across state or national boundaries. But those are misconceptions, says the DCF's Elizabeth Duryea.

There's a shadow world in Connecticut where dozens of juvenile runaway girls have been ensnared by pimps bearing seductive gifts and filling a parental void. Compounding the problem is that the young people, at least at first, often don't consider themselves victims. By the time they do, they have long become the property of the traffickers.

"Domestic minor sex trafficking is a subset of human trafficking,'' said Duryea, a top official in DCF Commissioner Joette Katz's office. "We want to raise public awareness of the problem right here in Connecticut and get underneath some of the misconceptions.''

The mantra in the fight against domestic terrorism – "if you see something, say something'' – applies to the sex trafficking of children.

A hotel clerk or an emergency room nurse are just as likely to encounter evidence of the trafficking of minors in the sex trade as police officers or social workers, said Duryea.

Kane, the chief state's attorney, said the scope of the problem is probably wider than the reports that DCF receives through its hotline.

"I believe this type of activity occurs far more than we realize,'' said Kane. "This is basically sexual assault of minors, but the victims are not inclined to report it or seek the help of police.''

Kane said he hoped next week's conference "will improve communication" among agencies.

"We need to think about ways that law enforcement can be a more significant part of the solution – but it is still just one component of the response."

The Mohegan Tribal Council's participation in the conference flows from the tribe's commitment to protecting the most vulnerable members of the community, said spokesman Chuck Bunnell.

"This was an easy one. The Mohegans want to bring awareness to issues that are often uncomfortable to talk about but are critically important,'' said Bunnell.

State laws enacted since 2012 have targeted traffickers who exploit adolescents who are too young to legally consent to sex.

For example, it is now a felony to purchase any type of advertising for a "commercial sex act" involving a person under 18. Patronizing a prostitute under 18, formerly a misdemeanor offense, is now a felony carrying a prison term of up to 10 years.

Also, the state can now move to seize money and property of anyone convicted of third-degree promoting prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation of a minor.

The FBI had notified DCF about the crackdown last summer a few weeks before the raids were conducted, according to William Rivera, DCF's director of multicultural affairs and the co-leader of the agency's human trafficking response team.

Rivera said at the time that DCF was familiar with three of the five girls.

"Kids who get lured into prostitution of this sort are generally children who run away frequently," Rivera told the Courant. "They're not likely to stay with us -- they reconnect with their pimps."